This is a wordle based on the blog’s contents. Oddly enough, it seems we talk about students a lot. And bathrooms.
Below is another one, for the Talking Stick:
Thanks to Josh Goldman, Senior Director at the Central Office, for sending these to me!
ACUHO-I is mentioned in this Cronk of Higher Education article about conference romances. If there’s anyone out there mourning an Annual Conference romance (or friendship, or fling), perhaps this piece will be soothing:
ACUHO-I Conference Romance Ends Abruptly
If you feel like you didn’t represent yourself well, this article may be helpful:
Blistex Executive Makes Fool of Himself at Lip-Balm Conference
Well, it’s almost time for ACE! I’ve had a blast writing these posts and introducing you to my home. I thought I’d provide some last-minute bits of information to help you plan your trip to Austin and to have a successful conference.
Airport Transportation: ACUHO-I has arranged for a 10% discount with SuperShuttle. Look here for more information. Taxi fare will run you approximately $25 one-way, so SuperShuttle will definitely be the most economical choice. Reserve a spot online and then check in at the counter next to Baggage Claim #1.
Evening Activities: don’t forget to buy tickets now to the shows – this the only way you’ll guarantee to get in. Check do512.com for a list of events happening over the next few days. I’ve also added some events to my list on Google Docs and will keep adding to the list as I hear of new events. Once you get to the conference, your complimentary copy of The Austin Chronicle will help you find fund stuff to do.
I saw that on a bumper sticker this morning and liked it.
It made me think a recent interview of Anthony Bourdain. You’re likely familiar with Bourdain. He’s the “bad boy” chef who has defected from the Food Channel, insulted various food celebrities including Rachel Ray (I happen to agree with him on that; I mean, Ritz crackers may be edible, but they are not food) and sneered at vegetarians. His Travel Channel show, No Reservations, features Bourdain journeying to exotic places, eating the local grub, and having an epiphany by the end of the episode. It’s entertaining, fascinating and positively pornographic for foodies.
Whatever your opinions on Bourdain are, he’s at least given you good grounds for them; he’s forthcoming on any topic.
In this interview, Bourdain seems to have mellowed a bit (Though lately he’s been involved in a war of words with GQ food writer Alan Richman, so maybe not.) He discusses the value of being wrong, including about yourself. This really struck a chord with me. What about you?
Well, the time is finally here. This is the blog where I fill you in on the places to get some true Texas barbeque. Sorry, vegetarians – there’s not going to be a lot for you in this posting.
But, first, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page in terms of what “barbeque” means. According to Wikipedia there are five kinds of Texas barbeque: (Editor’s Note: I’m still trying to figure out if we should spell it “barbeque” or “barbecue” and now you tell me there are different kinds?)
East Texas: The beef is slowly cooked to the point that it is “falling off the bone,” typically over hickory wood, and marinated in a sweet, tomato-based sauce.
Central Texas: The meat is rubbed with spices and cooked over indirect heat from pecan or oak wood.
West Texas: The meat is cooked over direct heat from mesquite wood giving it a somewhat bitter taste.
South Texas: Thick, molasses-like sauces that keep the meat very moist and barbacoa (often prepared with parts from the head of a cow, such as the cheeks).
In Austin, you’ll see mostly Central Texas barbeque. I’m not usually a dry rub fan, but if the barbeque is cooked well, the meat is so moist and the dry rub provides just the right amount of flavor to the beef . . . Sorry – I got distracted. Anyway. Barbeque is typically sold by the pound and can include brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage links. For me, Texas Barbeque means “brisket.” The brisket is sliced as it’s ordered, so it will still be incredibly juicy. At the old-skool joints, they’ll just toss the barbeque and a couple of slices of white bread on some butcher paper and hand it to you. Then, you’ll pick up some sides such as beans, potato salad or slaw. Notice I haven’t mentioned sauce yet. Sauce is available on the table, but I often find that I don’t need it because the beef is so juicy and flavorful.
Now that we’re all hungry, I’ll highlight some places around the conference hotel where you can get some good barbeque, as well as some great places in surrounding towns that could be well worth the price of a rental car.
Campuses are starting to dig themselves out from the massive snowfall. Well, at least they dug themselves out far enough that they can start to post their exploits to Facebook and YouTube. See below for the snowball battle royal that happened at the University of Maryland, College Park campus.
Our apologies to Mr. Wm. Shakespeare for our appropriation of his quote from Macbeth, Act I, Scene I. It seemed so apropos, however, because there’s been quite a few bird-related stories on campuses lately. Check these out:
Fluff-Up at Reed College Over Chicken Dinner During one week at the beginning of spring semester, Reed students can offer and take brief no-credit courses on any topic of interest — striptease, pool, or chokin’ the chicken. No, not that kind of chicken-choking; get your minds out of the gutter! A college senior who raises chickens for eggs and meat, proposed to demonstrate how one of the birds is slaughtered and dressed for dinner. Some students and organizations raised a ruckus, however, because of their distress that ” Reed students are taking part in the killing of live animals.” (I’ve heard it’s really hard to kill dead animals, though.) The course was ultimately canceled.
A Wily Chicken at Glendale Community College An apparently unnamed black chicken at Glendale Community college poses for pictures and accepts food from student fans. But when animal control stops by, he or she (they’re not sure which), crosses the road–natch!–and evades capture.
Turkey Overstays Her Welcome at Harvard Business School This is so ripe for jokes, I’ll let you think of them yourself. Nicknamed Turk Turkee, the wild bird was initially welcomed into the Harvard community, but her esprit de corps is lacking; attempts to roust her from napping in the dean’s garden (a favorite spot) results in pecks and snaps. Her, um, fowl-ness seems to increase when observers don’t offer food. She’s also vain; she’ll stare at herself in the clean, reflective windows of the business school buildings for hours. Some students find her cranky presence entertaining; others have created an “HBS Students FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE TURKEY” Facebook group. Massachusetts state laws regarding wild turkeys make her removal problematic.
Concordia College Chicken Put to Work A poster on Inside HigherEd offered up this chicken story, with a happy ending (for the college and the chicken). “Rocky,” a small, white hen, selected Concordia College as her home in the summer of 2009. Unlike Turk Turkee, Rocky was a good ambassador, welcoming students to campus in the fall and amassing a number of fans. But as winter neared, Concordia officials worried for Rocky’s safety; they also feared a larger predator would make a chicken dinner of her. So they found her a new home, where Rocky can continue her public relations work in safety.
Has your campus adopted an animal, avian or otherwise? Tell us about it!
Today’s Doonesbury strip mentions retention issues among college students: family, work, children…and the circus?
We’ll see you in 2010!
I’m loving the Pink Glove Dance on YouTube. Employees from many areas of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, danced to “Down” by Sean Jean in pink gloves to raise breast cancer awareness. This video makes me happy for many reasons; it’s regular people dancing, they’re all so enthusiastic, and it’s for a great cause.
Note the hospital’s librarians (squee!) gettin’ down at 1:14!
Have you collaborated with your students on a project such as this? Was it good for raising awarness? Tell us about it!
This is a just-for-fun sort of day, isn’t it?
A Week Before Christmas, On Campus
(Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)
‘Twas the week before Christmas, all through the campus,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a frat house.
The exams were submitted, with prayers and great care
In hopes that St. Jude would soon be there.
The students were nestled, at home in their beds
while visions of job offers danced in their heads…
What happens next? I’m not sure. Can you folks (on your quiet campuses) supply some ideas?
Seven months ago I welcomed a cute and cuddly little bundle of joy into my life. Her dad and I call her Charlotte. She’s our first child and has proved to provide more joy, but also more work, than I ever could have imagined. Some of you reading this know exactly what I’m talking about and many of you may be able to relate only partially, or not at all, but I’m guessing that each and every one of you know what it’s like to have to balance work with personal commitments. (If you don’t, please share your secret with me!)
Residence life at OSU has a history of being a family-friendly environment, which is something that I take for granted since that’s always been my experience. When I came back to work after eight weeks home with my baby, she came with me the entire summer. Even now I still pack her up and wheel her in twice a week. (In January her “come with mommy to work” days will be over) When people outside of our office, either friends, family or other professionals I work with, ask where she stays while I’m at work, I’m both delighted and embarrassed to share with them that she comes with me. I get so many people who say, “that’s great” or “I wish I could bring insert-their-child’s-name-here to work with me.” Personally, I love it and I hate it and I kind of can’t wait for it to be over. Judge me, as you will for being antsy for these days to end.
What do I enjoy about having Charlotte at work with me?
Why having my daughter here isn’t all sunshine and rainbows…
A University of Buffalo student, feeling he couldn’t afford both tuition and housing, spent the summer sleeping in stairwells and in hammocks (likely thanks to the milder summers in western New York state), and started building a small cabin on his university’s Amherst campus in May. Two initial construction attempts were thwarted by university police until he moved the site further into a wooded area. Brian Borncamp reached 80% completion before the university found his cabin and ordered him to leave the site by Monday August 31. He has already left voluntarily. The university will remove the cabin. Officials offered him several options to afford housing, but Borncamp, a computer science and philosophy major who compared himself to a modern Thoreau, turned them down.
…but it’s fun! The Rolling Stones, before they were an international sensation, did a jingle for Rice Krispies. It’s the most rockin’ jingle I’ve ever heard.
Happy ACUHO-I Annual Conference, y’all! If you’re going, say hello to all the ACUHO-I staffers there and have a great time. If you’re not, we’ll provide the presentations in our online library post-conference.
The College of William & Mary is looking for a new mascot and is inviting its constituents to submit proposals. So far, more than 400 nominations have been received. A tentative deadline is set for the fall of 2009.
Among the ideas submitted so far: asparagus (the nominator pointed out that when served with cheese sauce, the mascot and its topping will be wearing the school colors); a stick figure holding a towel, a jester, a green brick with yellow teeth; a bee, nine birds, three sea creatures and an un-counted number of bears, horses, dogs and mythical animals.
A committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni are reviewing the suggestions and will make a recommendation to William & Mary president Taylor Reveley.
William & Mary will be keeping their colors (green and gold, the colors of asparagus and cheese), and the teams and fans will still be known as the Tribe. Their previous logo, which included feathers alluding to an American Indian tribe, was ruled unacceptable under NCAA regulations.
The new mascot can compliment the word tribe, but that isn’t necessary. The FAQ on the Mascot Search page points out that tribe can imply many things, including “any aggregate of people united by ties of descent from a common ancestor, a community of customs and traditions, adherence to the same leaders,” or “a class or type of animals, plants, articles, or the like.” “Tribe” could be reserved for athletes and fans, and the mascot would be a separate entity, citing the University of North Carolina’s mascot, a ram, and the nickname Tarheels.
The Mascot Search blog says out that they do not want a mascot already claimed by another Colonial Athletic Association institution. So those proposing blue hens (University of Delaware), dragons (Drexel University) or lions (Hofstra University and Old Dominion University) are out of luck. The committee has also eliminated ideas that involve Native American imagry (missing the point); concepts that could not be represented in a costume and proposals that “do not engender pride or affection for W&M.” Also, Colonel Ebirt, a sort of shell-less turtle wearing a colonial three-cornered hat, has been ruled out. Ebrit (Tribe spelled backward) was the institution’s unofficial mascot in the early 2000s. Ebrit has a Facebook group in his favor, but William & Mary has posted several notes “from” Ebrit, claiming he is retired on the beach with a Pina Colada, and has no interest in resuming the hectic mascot life.
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